Platte River Trail #654

Edwin and I were looking for a simple, overnight backpacking trip with fly fishing. A little research yielded Platte River Trail #654 that seemed to fit the bill. The trail is an out and back ranging from 6 to 8 miles depending on how far along the South Platte River you want to wander. Alltrails rates the hike as moderate.

South Platte River

As any fly fishing Coloradan knows, the South Platte River is one of the most popular and productive fishing rivers in the state. It roams from its headwaters in the South Park region of Colorado all the way to the Missouri river. Many sections in Colorado are designated Gold Medal fishing waters. Even though I’ve never caught a trophy trout on the river, I do love trying.

A few little factoids for you, Colorado is a state that has no river flowing into it as all the rivers have their headwaters in the state and head somewhere else. Factoid #2, one in ten Americans get their water from a river that starts in Colorado.

Afternoon showers greet us

We took our time leaving Thursday and arrived at the trailhead around 3:00PM. The rain started as we parked giving us a refreshing welcome. Given how hot it was in Denver when we left, we definitely didn’t mind a little moisture. The drive from Littleton took a bit more than 2 hours by way of I-25 South to Colorado 24 to the Platte River Trail #654 trailhead.

The trailhead only has room for about four spots of parking. We were lucky as there were only two cars leaving room for us. Options for parking are across the road and up the road from the trailhead. The road heads into an area with private property with no area for parking. From what I saw, you shouldn’t park anywhere past the trailhead and stay in the designated areas off the road. You’ll be competing with fishermen and rafters for parking spots!

The Hike

The trail makes its way up toward the ridgeline to bypass private property next to the road. The altitude gain is about 350 feet to the top of the ridge. The route up to the ridge takes you through pine forest which is common in this area and Pike National Forest. It reminded me of how the burn area outside the Lost Wilderness looked before the Hayman Fire in 2003.

While there was lightning and thunder when we headed out, things had calmed down by the time we reached the ridge. We were able to cross over without worrying about weather at all.

From the ridge, the hike remains flat until about 1.8 miles where you begin the descent to the South Platte River. There is a steep drop from 2.2 to 2.5 miles delivering you right to the river. We saw a snake and rabbit here.

Lots of dispersed campsites

Once at the river, we followed the flat path and spotted several options for camping within the first half-mile. After wandering up a ways, we backtracked to a previous campsite that ended up an excellent choice.

Fishing the Platte

We were anxious to get fishing, so camp setup didn’t take long. We had a quick bite and started fishing. Edwin started on the river next to camp while I headed downstream (North).

I should say, my luck fishing the South Platte has not been stellar. The river requires some skill and knowledge, both of which I’m lacking. In defiance of these limitations, both Edwin and I were excited to get on the water.

My spot downstream didn’t yield any fish on my line. I’m sure there were plenty of fish at that spot, just none hitting my flies. I headed further downstream to see if the river changed at all, looking for more pools.

The trail climbed up away from the river as the canyon narrowed. The river had transformed from a meandering stream in the meadows near the trailhead to a roaring river with rapids. It was a beautiful sight to see.

At this point, I figured I’d head back to see how Edwin was doing. Along the way I spotted a deer, most likely the same one I’d seen on the way out. I took a picture…it was fuzzy. 🙁

By the time I’d arrived, Edwin had switched to fishing a dry fly. Shortly after, he caught the first fish.

Pretty soon fish were jumping out of the water going after insects as they hatched. We both fished dry flies and caught a few more fish. Edwin landed a good-sized brown trout! Alas, all things come to an end. The sun set and the hatch ended abruptly so we called it a night.

Friday morning I decided to try my luck on the river again. I was able to catch a small one on a dry fly in the area we’d caught them the night before. There was a better pool upstream from a rock, so I waded across the river slipping half-way across, always a humbling experience. It’s not really fun to swim in the river with your fishing gear on. It was refreshing though!

Edwin gave fishing a try while I worked on drying out my gear. Neither of us had much luck in either effort. A while later, we packed up camp and headed out.

Heading home

The climb out from the river is steeper than the hike from the trailhead which surprised us. The weather was sunny and a bit warm on the trek out. There were several people headed out on the trail that day so it appears this is a popular hike in the area.

We took CO 24 to CO 67 North to return with a brief detour at West Creek. In 2013, Edwin did his Eagle Scout Service Project which was to help restore an area of Trail Creek impacted by the Hayman Burn. Just south of West Creek off FR200, these was a barren section of the creek that needed willow restoration. We stopped by to check on it and were amazed at the results.

Platte River Trail #654 ended up providing a rewarding overnight backpack trip that we will have to do again sometime.